The Death of Windows XP and What It Means to the Internet's Security!

Week 5

Yesterday, we all witnessed the death of probably the best Windows Operating System.  Windows XP was introduced in 2001 and served most of us until the release of Windows 7.  The crazy thing is, there are still close to 30% of computer owners who have XP still installed as their main OS.  Who blames them though?  That OS was one of a kind; flawless, dependable and secure.  Now, when the patches come out next month from Microsoft, they will not be including XP.  This means that for the first time in 13 years, the XP OS will not be updated or upgraded if needed.  Security on that OS is now an issue.  *Que intense music*

What surprises me is that even today, 30% of computer owners have XP as their main system.  I don't blame them because it was a great OS.  There is the word, "was".  People need to understand that the Internet is changing and the source code for XP is not what it should be to defend against today's security threats.  Now, with no support coming from Microsoft, security holes will be found and exploited and will not be fixed.  Hackers will be able to use those holes to gain entrance into systems.

The dropping of the OS actually was announced months back to allow for people to go out and upgrade their systems prior to the cut.  Why did so many people and companies decide to drag their feet?  No one can answer that but them.  Now, companies that have XP as their OS are having to quickly find a way to migrate and upgrade their systems.  Companies need to understand the importance of upgrading.  If they do not, they will find themselves in hot water before too long.  Their data is at risk of being stolen.  IT security should be the utmost importance to them.

I found an article that discussed how the dropping of XP will help make the whole Internet safer.  The article couldn't be more right.  Now you wonder, how could that be if only 30% of users have XP?  The thing you have to realize is that those XP systems are touching other systems.  We are all connected via the Internet.  An XP system sending something to a Windows 7 machine makes that Windows 7 machine vulnerable because it is now exchanging packets with the XP system.  Those packets, if sniffed out and hijacked would make both systems vulnerable to the attack.  This is why it is so important to get upgraded to a newer OS, preferably Windows 7 and above and not Vista!  That is my own opinion, but I think many will share the same feelings toward Vista that I do.

So, in closing, get rid of XP!  Upgrade soon!  Don't wait until your system has been compromised!  It will end up saving not only you but the rest of the Internet.

Links to sites where I got some of my information for this blog:

http://www.informationweek.com/software/operating-systems/windows-xp-diehards-face-the-music/d/d-id/1204247

http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/windows-xp-security/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss